Sheldon Harnick News

Today's the day! The 2016 Pulitzer Prize Winners and Nominated Finalists will be announced in just minutes- April 18 at 3pm eastern daylight time via live-stream on pulitzer.org.

FIELD GUIDE, a work-in-progress by Rude Mechs, is currently in a second draft performance at the Off Center. Rude Mechs creates new works collaboratively, and with FIELD GUIDE they are actively engaging their audience to get feed back on what works and what doesn't in order to help shape the piece. FIELD GUIDE, commissioned by the Yale Repertory Theatre, is a mash-up of Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, stand-up comedy, dance and some frankly uncomfortable direct audience addressing confessions. How much of the direct confessions are fact or fiction we'll never really know. What we do know is this is an excitingly different evening of pure theatricality… an evening that you, as an audience member, are being asked to help define. Along the way during your 90 minute journey the Mechs cover topics from the longest Russian novel written such as intellectualism, spiritualism, sensuality and hedonism. While it is ostensibly an adaptation of The Brothers Karamazov, it really just uses the characters in the briefest Cliff Notes sense. This approach allows the performers to riff on the underlying themes present. There is even an unaccredited moment by Tom Lehrer when Robert S. Fisher performs 'They're Rioting in Africa'. What you are treated to is highly experimental in nature and at moments what ensues is truly magical.

Today's the day! The 2016 Pulitzer Prize Winners and Nominated Finalists will be announced on today, April 18 at 3pm eastern daylight time via live-stream on pulitzer.org.

On Tuesday April 12 I eagerly returned to Rockwell Table and Stage for the third time to see An Evening of Classic Broadway. The show comes to Rockwell for one evening every couple of months. Why do I keep coming back? Produced by Dianne Fraser and musically directed by extraordinarily talented Brad Ellis ... and with a bevy of great singers on board, it's guaranteed fun, extra high on entertainment, and it incorporates Broadway standards both classic and contemporary. If that isn't enough, the structure is laid back and spontaneous, allowing one to sit back, relax and just savor the sounds.

Roundabout Theatre Company's hit revival of She Loves Me, which opened to unanimous rave reviews, has been extended by four weeks through July 10, 2016 only, it was announced today.

The nominations ceremony will be broadcast worldwide via live stream at www.broadwayworld.com, and will be hosted by National Life Group, a longstanding Drama League partner and supporter of the arts. Since 1848, National Life has lived its corporate values of do good, be good, and make good by offering financial solutions to those it serves.

Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters (or Tevye the Dairyman) and other tales by Sholem Aleichem. The story centers on Tevye, the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural traditions as outside influences encroach upon the family's lives. He must cope both with the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters, who wish to marry for love - each one's choice of a husband moves further away from the customs of his faith - and with the edict of the Tsar that evicts the Jews from their village.

The Fred Ebb Foundation, in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company, will present the twelfth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters.  Applications for the award, named in honor of the late award-winning lyricist Fred Ebb, will be accepted from June 1- 30, 2016.  The winner will be selected in November of 2016.  Eligibility criteria and Application forms can be found at the foundations website: www.fredebbfoundation.org.

Jane Krakowski is currently starring on Broadway in SHE LOVES ME as well as returning to Netflix in season 2 of 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.'

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

SHE LOVES ME is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock. It is an adaptation of the play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo. Other adaptations include the films The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Old Summertime and You've Got Mail. It opened on Broadway in 1963, and has had productions in the West End as well as award-winning revivals and regional productions. It is currently playing in revival on Broadway in a production by The Roundabout Theatre.

Stage star Laura Benanti took to Twitter today to apologize to theatergoers for her absence from tonight's performance of Roundabout Theatre Company's SHE LOVES ME. The actress is ill but hopes to return to the show tomorrow. BroadwayWorld wishes her a speedy recovery!

Palos Verdes Performing Arts mounts a new staging of 'Fiddler on the Roof,' the timeless musical that has captured the hearts of audiences worldwide for more than 50 years. The production will run April 22 to May 8 at the Norris Theatre on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.

Shows are opening, shows are closing and Fiddler on the Roof is back onstage for Actors Pointe Theatre Company while Tom Sawyer takes a bow at Springhouse Theatre in Smyrna! Obviously, the 2016 theater season continues to reveal itself at a breakneck pace, giving audiences a veritable buffet of offerings from which to choose.

The Drama League (Executive Director, Gabriel Shanks) has announced that Zachary Levi ('Chuck') and Megan Hilty ('Smash') will host the upcoming 82nd Annual Drama League Awards on Friday, May 20, 2016 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square in the Broadway Ballroom (1535 Broadway)beginning at 11:30 a.m. Both Levi and Hilty are celebrated this season for their acclaimed performances in the Roundabout Theatre Company productions of She Loves Me and Noises Off, respectively.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has dazzled many audiences with its clever wit and humor. Winner of the Tony and Drama Desk Award for Best Book by Rachel Sheinkin, and featuring a fun and vibrant score by William Finn, this bee is an experience you won't forget. The show will be performed at the Off-Off Broadway House- Hudson Guild Theatre (441 West 26th Street, New York, NY), May 5-15th.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Examining the variability of life and the power of love, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is a touching tale of the challenges a father faces in a changing world.

Singer Jennifer Roberts will toast the 92nd birthday of legendary Broadway lyricist and composer Sheldon Harnick with a tribute show celebrating his impressive body of work. Jennifer will be joined in the special performance at New York hotspot 'Don't Tell Mama' by musical director Tedd Firth and bassist Tom Hubbard.

The 2016 theatre awards season is quickly approaching, and keeping track of all of the important dates for the many ceremonies and their corresponding nomination announcements is no easy feat. Stay up to date on all the need-to-know facts with BroadwayWorld's Awards Season Calendar below!